The last in our four-part series on choosing the best lenses for your Canon EOS 5D Mk III concentrates on wide-angle zooms and primes. Mounted on the 22.3 Mpix EOS 5D Mk III, we’ve tested 23 different models covering moderately wide- to ultra-wide angle lenses ranging from 35mm to 12mm. Read on to see which of these perform best on the EOS 5D Mk III.

General Overview

With their expansive, rectilinear perspective and generous depth of field, wide and ultra-wide angle lenses are ideal for panoramic landscapes, architecture and interiors. They’re also particularly suited to creative use. With subjects close to the lens being exaggerated in size, ultra-wides can be used to create striking images with an almost three-dimensional quality that can’t be achieved with longer focal length lenses.

Wide-angle lenses, are typically those with a focal length ranging from 24mm to 35mm and encompass an diagonal angle of view ranging from 84-62 degrees (74-to 54-degrees horizontally) on a 35mm format camera.

In terms of popularity, the 24mm is well-liked, especially with today’s high resolution sensors, where light cropping can achieve the same coverage as a 28mm. As a result, 28mm lenses tend to be offered with a slightly lower technical specification (and price) to differentiate the two, and could make a tempting proposition to those on a budget.

Although most makers refer to the diagonal angle of view in their product literature, most purists prefer to think of the coverage of wide-and ultra-angle lenses in terms of the horizontal angle of view. This is because as photographers, we naturally assess a landscape or interior across the frame, from left to right.

As a group, ultra-wide angle lenses for 35mm (full frame) format cameras have a focal length less than 24mm and project a rectilinear image, rendering straight lines as straight lines. Fish-eye lenses have short focal lengths as well, but produce circular images with strong barrel distortion.

Typically today, the range of focal lengths include those ranging from 12mm to 21mm, and provide sweeping images with an horizontal angle of view of around 113- to 81-degrees, respectively.

We’ve tested 23 different models covering moderately wide- to ultra-wide angle lenses ranging from 35mm to 12mm, including zooms as well as primes.

Some of the more significant lenses we’ve not yet been able to test include the Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM, and the EF14mm f/2.8L II USM.

Both of these lenses and many of the others will be tested in the coming months…

Image quality overview

If we compare wide-angles as a whole with the complete database of lenses tested on the Canon EOS 5D Mk III, the primes perform well, with some of the best examples approaching that of the best standard focal lengths and short telephoto lenses.

Inevitably, some compromises are made during the design process. Correcting for stronger distortion and vignetting at shorter focal lengths take their toll on sharpness across the frame and make high image quality a challenging proposition. Lenses that perform uniformly well in all areas tend to cost a lot more than those that achieve good results in a few of the metrics.

Image quality degrades as the focal length shortens, and zooms with their greater compromises aren’t usually able to match the performance of their fixed focal length equivalents. On average zooms achieve 20-percent lower scores in the DxOMark ratings

Wide angle zooms offer some cost advantages but they rarely perform as well as the primes

It’s quite clear from the list that wider lenses perform less well than the more moderate focal lengths, though the exception to this are the older film-era lenses which were never designed with the high-resolution digital sensor in mind.

It comes as little surprise to see the recently tested, high-scoring $899 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM (A012) occupy the number one position. Moderate wide-angle lenses are only moderately more difficult to correct than standard lenses, and the Sigma is the highest performing wide-angle we’ve seen to date.

It is, however, given a close run by the new $849 Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM. On the Canon EOS 5D MK III it even has higher sharpness at 20P-Mpix. It’ has excellent Transmission and similarly low levels of Distortion, and Chromatic Aberration. Although it has image stabilization, it has one downside in that the price is very close to the ‘faster’ Sigma.

Canon’s highly regarded EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM has a similar performance though the slightly higher Chromatic Aberration and -3EV vignetting pull the overall DxOMark score down a couple of points. Also worthy of a mention is the redesigned Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM. At $699 it’s good value for money, given the optical performance.

Of the ultra-wide angle lenses tested, the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical achieves the highest DxOMark score and yet costs a relatively affordable $599. Distortion is high, as is Chromatic Aberration and Vignetting, but it has higher uniformity of sharpness across the image field over the first three stops. The Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/15 is sharper overall with better control of distortion but you will have to pay for the privilege.

If those are too wide (they have a 104 and 100-degree horizontal field of view, respectively) the Zeiss Distagon T 2,8/21 (21mmm f/2.8) fares well with a DxOMark score of 20, and has both low Chromatic Aberration and Distortion. The only real shortcoming is the Sharpness score, which at 13P-Mpix, appears to be on the low-side for a prime.

Note: The Canon EF 14mm f2.8L II USM will be soon added in this lens selection

Zoom lenses dominate the ultra-wide category just as they do in every other. They’re so versatile they more or less made the old film-era f/2.8 prime lenses redundant. Nonetheless, while Canon is breathing new life back into those models with image stabilization and top-drawer optical designs, the zooms still look attractive in terms of portability and convenience.

Tokina prudently limited the focal range of the AT-X 16-28mm f/2.8 Pro FX in order to maintain image quality, and in doing so has achieved a relatively high DxOMark score of 22, as well as a high individual scores for Sharpness, Distortion and Chromatic Aberration. It’s the highest scoring wide-angle zoom in our database currently (tie with the Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM), but it’s also one of the newest designs.

The Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM and its predecessor (not shown for comparison as it’s no longer available new) take first and third place despite their high price. Both are designed for daily pro-use and the current version has good Sharpness but high levels of Chromatic Aberration are disappointing.

As the widest of its type currently available, Sigma’s unique full-frame 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom is certainly noteworthy. At $1400, it not cheap but the horizontal field of view at 12mm is an incredible 112-degrees, while still attaining a respectable DxOMark score of 15. Given the angle of view, it has low levels of distortion and reasonable Sharpness at 12P-Mpix.

Conclusion

There are numerous wide-and ultra-wide options for the Canon EOS 5D Mk III but if resolution and contrast are to be maintained, then it should be no surprise to hear that a prime lens should be chosen over a zoom.

That said, the widest, and one of the most versatile lenses of the group is the Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 II DG HSM. It certainly pays to consider third-party options. Samyang and Zeiss offer some of the highest quality imagery in this category while the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM A is highest performing lens of the group.

Canon users shouldn’t feel disheartened though, the numerous high-speed L-series all offer high image quality. The firm’s new IS enabled primes offer similar levels of imaging performance with the added advantage of stabilization, a feature that’s not only useful for stills but increasingly important for video as well.

Further readings for the Which lenses should you choose for your Canon EOS 5D Mark III?

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

After evaluating the performance characteristics of lenses mounted on full-frame models such as Nikon D800 and D600, as well as the Canon EOS 5D Mk III, we’ve now had the opportunity to analyze a range of lenses on the Sony SLT-A99. In this concise report, we’ll see how well the combination of Sony’s high-end image sensor and the latest Alpha mount lenses perform.

Comments

Lenses for a D5 Mark III

I will go to HK to buy a Canon D5 Mk II to replace my EOS 450D. I have a very good lens on my 450 (Canon EF28-135mm Ultrasonic). I intend buying to go with the D5 the Tamron 24-70 f2.8 Di VC USD and the Canon 50mm f1.2L or the Sigma 50mm F1.4 USM (if money is tight). I know where I'll know where to buy the camera as I have lived in HK and now live in China. As this is my last big spend on camera equipment, can someone say if the Canon EF 28-135MM, the Canon 50mm 1.2L and the Tamron 24-70mm lenses would be sufficient for my needs. I am just an average photographer who enjoys his hobby.

In camera correction

The 5D Mk iii can correct aberrations, etc with this function enabled and for lenses that it recognizes. Canon also says that with third party lenses one should disable the function because it may confuse a third party lens with a canon lens and apply the wrong correction. I find that tough to buy, but it begs the following questions:1. I assume your tests are with this function disabled. If that's true, and I turn it on, for lenses that it recognizes, does it improve the score?2. After seeing the Sigma prime results, I would like to purchase them, but I'm not happy about turning off the corrections for my Canon lenses. What would you do? Disable the correction?3. I assume if I use DxO optics Pro (about to buy it), that it would apply the corrections in any event- true?Thanks, Bob (everything I do is RAW. Have a 1Dx and am about to purchase a 5D Mk iii)

First replies for this comment

Re: In camera correction

Hello!

Thanks for your interest in DxOMark.

Your assumptions are good:- we effectively disable every correction on RAW to only evaluate lens quality- Optics Pro will correct every lenses listed.- About turning off the correction it is up to you!

Review including RAW conversion

I love your data and particularly value that lenses are reviewed in conjunction with camera bodies. I'm also a user of DxO Optics Pro for several years and sometimes use other Raw conversion products that include Digital Lens Optimization, such as Canon's Digital Photo Professional. Optics Pro and similar lens optimization programming included in Raw converters can make a huge difference in the final image quality of the images processed with them.

I'm frustrated that I can't see the lens performance rating after correction. I realize that's a huge can of worms, but digital lens correction and optimization is an important part of the digital imaging system (lens/camera/software). DxO has had a leadership position in this area for years, an yet I've never seen DxOMark apply its analysis to the corrected images of a lens/camera combination.

Don't you think that this would be very useful? Even if you do a limited sample, I think applying the quantitative analysis would be very informative, particularly when applied to a zoom lens.

I see this clearly in my own photography, particularly with my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS. Without correction, that lens isn't anywhere near the same performance level as my EF 70-200mm f/4L IS or my EF 500mm f/4L IS. It's not even close, but after correction, the results are very good.

First replies for this comment

Re: Review including RAW conversion

Hello!

Thanks for your interest in DxOMark.

It is indeed a very interesting request. For now lens and camera measurements are only performed on RAW. We do not plan in a short future to perform test after raw conversion (our partner (DPReview or Focus Numérique do that).

Please help me understand how the sensor plays into the lens sharpness

How does lens sharpness increase so significantly from the 5DII to the 5DIII when using the same lens? Also, how do the same lens have such higher sharpness score on the D800 vs D7000, which have the same pixel density? Obviously this sharpness number depends on the sensor somehow, but it is not explained.

Re: 5d and 17-40

Nikon D600 vs. Canon 5D Mark III

It will be very interesting when DxOMark publishes it's full D600 recommended lens review (it appears late as it was promised for the end of April?) to see how it performs against the Canon 5D Mark III....since the MP count between those two cameras is much closer than between the D800 and the 5D Mark III.

There is already some early evidence from DxOMark testing that the D600 outperforms the D4, D3, D3s and D3X and is very close to the D800 on certain lenses (for example in the recent Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR II review).

I have been wondering if the full DxOMark lens tests with the D600 are going to show that the D600 delivers the best overall value in terms of overall DxOMark scores and sharpness scores. I know I've been blow away by the results I've been getting with my D600 and Nikon 70-200 f/4 VR.

First replies for this comment

Re: Nikon D600 vs. Canon 5D Mark III

I guess you have seen it already. - The cat is out of the sack.- The D600 is definetly on the same level with the D800 and thus outperforms the Canon 5D Mark III.

Best example ist the DxO Mark value for the 85 mm primes. - The D800 and D600 reach values of 40 with the best lenses. - The Canon 5d Mark III's best value is at 35. 5 Points are quite a noticable difference in IQ, I suspekt.

Veeery Interesting!!

Wide and ultra-wide angle prime (fixed focal length)

Hi DxOIn the above article on lenses for Canon 5D MkIII, the comparison table shows the Canon EF 24mm f1.4L II USM as tying 3rd place score-wise with Carl Zeis Distagon T35MM f2 ZE for Canon, yet the note under the comparison table says,"The two top rated wide-angle lenses are moderate wide-angles, followed by Canon's highly rated EF 24mm f1.4 II USM".Is this a purposeful promotion of Canon over the Carl Zeis lens? Could you be bending to corporate pressure from Canon? I was hoping your editorial comments were completely independent.